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Sunday, February 22, 2015

I've always been a lover of winter, but this year has done what I thought was impossible - it's made me long for Spring! I don't like Summer, as a rule, I find too much heat quite debilitating. That said, this year's sudden onslought of storms have crippled me, financially and physically, so... this little video was made in the beautiful province of New Brunswick, and I think for all of us on the East Coast, it speaks with an eloquence most of us can't summon up at the moment. Enjoy...

Phoebe Heart struggles
to keep the bills paid with her survivalist training courses while raising a preteen
daughter. When a producer approaches her about starring on the survival show
Paradise she's hesitant. Hasn't she spent a lifetime trying to stay out of the
spotlight of her famous mother? But the money is too good to pass up, and
Phoebe will do anything to provide a stable future for her child.

Billionaire playboy
Jonathon Breck is always up for a new adventure. When he's offered a starring
role on Paradise he jumps at the chance. In return for spending twenty-five
days on a tropical island, using only his wits to survive, he'll receive a nice
big check, which he plans to donate to his favorite charity. So with two months
training under his belt, he's dropped off on a lush oasis. He knows it'll take
skill to find food, water, and shelter on the deceptively beautiful island.

Each of them expect to
be on the island alone, so they're shocked when they discover the producers
have thrown in a surprising twist. Phoebe and Jonathon find themselves teamed
up. Jonathon is intrigued by the sexy woman, but he can't shake the feeling
he's met her before. Phoebe is appalled she's paired off with the man she had a
drunken college one-night stand with.

Passion ignites while
they share in the trials of Paradise, but disaster strikes, leaving them facing
life or death. And Jonathon learns the truth that Phoebe desperately hoped to
keep hidden from him—they share a child.

Now Jonathon faces the
biggest challenge of his life—convincing Phoebe to let him be a part of their
daughter's life. Can Phoebe trust the notorious playboy with her young,
impressionable daughter's heart? And can she trust the feelings she has for the
charismatic billionaire?

Content Warning:
contains graphic language and explicit sex

~Excerpt~

"So what do you do
for fun, Phoebe?" Jonathon asked while they waited for their food to cook.

"I don't know, read
I guess. I don't have a lot of free time to spare." She hugged her knees
to her chest, staring at the fire.

"You're obviously
into this survivalist thing, how long have you done it?"

The getting-to-know-you
session made her uncomfortable, and a part of her wanted to scream at him. How
do you not remember me? You took my virginity and got me pregnant all in the
same night! She bit her tongue to stem the coming storm of words until she felt
some control.

"A long time,"
she finally answered. Shortly after dropping out of college and moving across
the country where I could raise my daughter in peace.

She took a stick and
rolled several of the crabs off the stone, letting them cool in the sand before
collecting them in her palm. Jonathon followed suit as she bit into one. Though
small, and gritty, it didn't taste half-bad. Perhaps tomorrow she'd search for
sea urchins, and weave a lobster trap. With the few needed calories in her
belly, Phoebe felt a bit better about Paradise. Even if she had to share it
with the last man on the planet she'd expected.

As the sun set before
them, and the sky turned from blue to soft reds and orange, Jonathon tried to
draw her into conversation again.

"Tell me about your
life, angel," he said.

She frowned at the pet
name. He'd used it before—long, long ago.

"Not much to tell,"
she said. "Work, my daughter, more work."

"You have a
daughter? What's her name?"

She fidgeted, not
knowing quite what to do with her hands, so she drew circles in the sand with a
fingertip. "Sarah. She's eleven."

"I have an adorable
niece that age." Jonathon stretched his long legs before him and rested
back on his hands. Phoebe noticed welts left by sand flea bites on the tops of
his feet.

Sarah has a cousin
she'll never know. Sadness flowed into her heart, as did the sense of
helplessness she'd carried for so long. There he was, only two feet away, and
she still couldn't break the silence. Sarah was too important to risk on a
stranger's whims. If Jonathon did show interest, then his interest may quickly
wane, leaving Sarah with emotional scars.

"It'll be rather
cozy in our hut tonight, don't you think?" Jonathon asked in a low timbre,
interrupting her thoughts. His eyes rested on her, catching the light of the
flickering campfire. Beyond him, the water blazed beneath the sun's last throes
of life, setting fire to the crystalline blue. Staining it dark orange,
blending ocean into sky.

A cool breeze washed
over them, sending a rush of goose pimples over her skin. Or maybe it was the
way Jonathon's deep voice rasped her nerve endings, the way his gaze seduced.
Both held a masculine power that reached into the most feminine parts of her.

In that moment she
realized how strong her weakness was when it came to Jonathon. Whatever magical
control drew those supermodels to him, left her just as powerless. A whispered
request from his sensual lips and she'd melt into him and beg for more. Her
heart pounded in her chest as she stared into his eyes. His hand came up and
his knuckles brushed her cheek, stroking back a loose strand of hair. She
trembled with the touch, ached for more.

"Phoebe,
angel…" His fingers trailed above her ear, and it took a moment to realize
he'd turned off her camera. He slipped it over her head, before he reached up
and did the same with his. "I'd rather it be only us right now."

No, no, no, I can't do
this. She couldn't catch her breath as he scooted closer. The tips of his
fingers traced over her cheek, light as butterfly wings, before his palm
settled there. The warmth of it sent a shockwave of desire through her, and she
sucked in a hard breath. "Please…" No.

Olivia Starke calls the
Ozarks home. One of the most beautiful areas in the country, she loves hiking
trails with her dogs, kayaking on the numerous waterways, and enjoying southern
Missouri’s fresh air and sunshine.

She’s also ‘Mom’ to four
dogs, a growing number of kitties that show up at her door, and four VERY
spoiled horses that do little to earn their keep. Not that she’d ever hold that
against them.

She’s a HUGE fangirl of
Doctor Who and to a lesser extent Supernatural, and has a pretty interesting
love triangle (or square?) going on in her head between the Doctor and the
Winchesters.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

"Hannah and Garrett are funny, relatable, and their chemistry on the page is palpable enough to linger off of it. The Deal reminds me of all the reasons I love romance. Two capable, yet flawed people realize that living without the other is worse than anything else life can throw at them. I highly recommend it to fans of Easy by Tammara Webber or The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan. It'll make you laugh, maybe even tear up, but most of all leave you with that warm good book feeling at the end."

- Jane Litte, Dear Author

Romance. The most adorable couple. The banter - omg the banter. The romance. The friends. The flirtation. The smiles it gave me. ​-Mandi, SmexyBooks

​

Elle Kennedy engages your senses from the very first sentence! Both deliciously steamy and heart-achingly tender, the Deal is an absolute winner!​ NYT Best Selling author Katy Evans

Elle has masterfully captured the feelings, the romance and the unbridled sexiness of the New Adult genre with this book! You will swoon for Garrett! Alice Clayton, NYT Best Selling author of WALLBANGER

Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice…even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date.

…and it’s going to be oh so good

All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.Excerpt:

The second I walk into the room, six-foot-two and two
hundred pounds of Garrett Graham block my path.

“Wellsy,” he says cheerfully. “You’re the last person I
expected to see here tonight.”

“Well, you don’t know me, remember? Maybe I’m partying it up
on Greek Row every night.”

“Liar. I would’ve seen you here before.”

He crosses his arms over his chest, a pose that causes his
biceps to flex. I glimpse the bottom of a tattoo peeking out from his sleeve,
but I can’t tell what it is, only that it’s black and looks intricate. Flames
maybe?

“So, about this tutoring thing… I thought we should take a
moment to set up a schedule.”

Aggravation shoots up my spine. “You don’t give up, do you?”

“Never.”

“Then you need to start, because I’m not tutoring you.” I’m
distracted now. Justin has reentered the room, his long, lithe body moving
through the crowd as he makes his way to the pool table. He’s halfway there
when a pretty brunette intercepts him. To my dismay, he stops to talk to her.

“Come on, Wellsy, help a guy out,” Garrett begs.

Justin laughs at something the girl says. Same way he was
laughing with me a minute ago. And when she touches his arm and leans in close,
he doesn’t back away.

“Look, if you don’t want to commit to the whole semester, at
least help me pass this midterm. I’ll owe you one.”

I’m no longer paying Garrett even a lick of attention.
Justin leans in to whisper in the girl’s ear. She giggles, her cheeks turn a
rosy shade of pink, and my heart plummets to the pit of my stomach. I was so
sure we’d been, I don’t know, connecting, but now he’s flirting with someone else?

“You’re not even listening to me,” Garrett accuses. “Who are
you looking at, anyway?”

I tear my eyes off Justin and the brunette, but not fast
enough.

Garrett grins when he notices where my gaze was. “Which
one?” he demands.

“Which one what?”

He cocks his head at Justin, then shifts it five feet to the
right, where I notice Jimmy talking to one of his frat brothers. “Paulson or
Kohl—which one do you want to bone?”

“Bone?” He has my attention again. “Ugh. Who says stuff like
that?”

“Fine, should I rephrase? Which one do you want to fuck or
screw or drill or make love to, if that’s your thing.”

I set my jaw. This guy is such an asshole.

When I don’t answer, he answers for me. “Kohl,” he decides.
“I saw you dancing with Paulson earlier and you definitely weren’t making
googly eyes at him.”

I don’t confirm or deny it. Instead I take a step away.
“Have a good night, Garrett.”

“I hate to break it to you, but it ain’t gonna happen,
Wellsy. You’re not his type.”

Anger and embarrassment flood my belly. Wow. Had he really
just said that?

“Thanks for the tip,” I say coolly. “Now if you’ll excuse
me...”

He tries reaching for my arm but I bulldoze past him and
leave him in my proverbial dust. I do a quick search of the room for Allie,
halting in my tracks when I spot her making out with Sean on the couch. I don’t
want to interrupt them, so I spin on my heel and head toward the front door
instead.

My fingers are shaky as I text Allie to let her know I’m
taking off. Garrett’s blunt assertion—you’re not his type—echoes in my mind
like a depressing mantra.

Truth is, it’s exactly what I needed to hear. So what if
Justin spoke to me in the hallway? Obviously it meant nothing, because in the
next breath he turned around and flirted with someone else. It’s time for me to
face reality. It’s not going to happen with me and Justin, no matter how badly
I want it to.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Surrender to desire with 12 books by the hottest names in dark
romance, including bestselling authors Pepper Winters, Anna Zaires, and Lynda
Chance.

CD Reiss - Spin

Jenika Snow – A Beautiful Prison

Pepper Winters – Destroyed

Skye Warren – Trust in Me

Kendall Ryan – Unravel Me

Anna Zaires & Dima Zales – Twist Me

Shay Savage – Otherwise Alone & Otherwise Occupied

Amber Lin & Shari Slade – Three Nights with a Rock Star

Pam Godwin – Deliver

Lynda Chance – Marco’s Redemption

Gemma James – Torrent

These e-books would cost over $40 if purchased separately. This
set will only be available for a limited time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT: from Three Nights with a Rock Star by Amber Lin and Shari Slade

Hailey forced herself to stand still
for his leisurely perusal. Even when he stood and stalked toward her, she
managed to hold on to her dignity—whatever dregs she had left after donning
these clothes and almost falling on her face. But his smile hit her like a
blast of heat, blinding her, scalding her. He looked far too pleased with
himself, like a man about to get everything he wanted. And her shaky insides
warned she might just give it to him.

“What do you mean?” she asked, proud
her voice didn’t quaver too much.

“You want to stay here while we’re
in Chicago,” he said. “To stay here for three days, to blend in so that no one
questions why you’re here. To ask questions, poke around.”

Yes, that was exactly what she
wanted. So why did her nod feel like surrender? As if she’d agreed to his terms
before she even knew them. But then maybe she did know what his terms would be.
His eyes spoke the words his lips had yet to say. There were volumes of
gold-flecked pages filled with all that sensual knowledge. They promised
delight and, even better, a hard bite to the exchange. Where the men she had
been with were a fresh spring breeze, he stood before her like the calm before
the storm, his eyes darkening clouds.

“Can you…” She licked her lips. His
gaze tracked the movement, making her feel hunted. “Can you help me?”

His expression softened. Just the
slightest degree, but it was enough to slow the hammering of her heart. This
was the same kind man she’d met in the lobby. Desire had given him a rough
edge, turning his loping gait into a prowl, making his nostrils flare—scenting
her. But he was still kind inside.

When he didn’t answer, she searched
for whatever strength she might have found. You want… he’d said, listing her
terms. Only his terms were left to be stated. A negotiation, then. But even as
she thought the words, an image flashed through her mind, a gazelle caught from
behind, the vicious beauty of her captor feasting in a National Geographic
special.

“What do you want?” she whispered,
and somehow the wall was at her back. He was at her front…crowding
her…embracing her?

“You,” he snarled. “Under me. Over
me. On your knees in front of me. I get full artistic license to your body for
three days.”

His words pounded her like hail,
leaving dents and then pooling in the hollows left behind. They drowned out the
rest of the world and shook the floor. She began to shake too—but her gaze remained
locked with his. The shaking was on the inside, fear and a strange longing
warring inside her, a battle to the death. She stood frozen, caught in his
sights and too terrified to run. Too curious to walk away.

He stepped back, sending a wash of
crisp hotel air over her body. She sucked in a breath and immediately missed
the earthy scent of him.

“And you,” he continued
conversationally, “will have total access to play Nancy Drew in the hotel. That
is, whenever I’m not using you.”

Her body lit up when he said the
word using. It imploded on you, spoken with such self-assured possession. What
was wrong with her that she wanted to be used? Maybe because she wanted to be
free to enjoy sex, to really explore it, for the first time in her tame little
life. Maybe because he would be the one using her, and he seemed like he would
know just what to do with her.

This was a bad idea. For reasons
that weren’t quite coming to her at the moment. But she knew it was bad. If
she’d said it once, she’d said it a thousand times to her preschoolers: don’t
make decisions when you’re angry. Though she wasn’t angry. She was concerned.
And frustrated. And…

God, Chloe, why? After I worked so
freaking hard so you could start college, why couldn’t you be more careful?

Okay, she might be angry.

She swallowed. So maybe this weekend
could be for her too. She would find the baby’s father, but she’d also find
something for herself.

With a deep breath, she struggled
for levity. A lopsided tilt of her lips was all she could manage. “Where do I
sign?” she joked.

His grin widened, revealing an even
row of white teeth. The Cheshire cat had just such a smile. “I’m so glad you
asked. I have blank copies of my contract in the side table. Right next to the
lube.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Please
consider following the authors to find out more about their books…

Monday, February 2, 2015

Young lovers, Kyle and Ronnie, had the world ahead of them at seventeen. Stubbornness, misunderstanding and a mother’s influence forced them to forge their own paths. A decade later, neither can find love.

Ronnie always thought it was easier to move on than deal with the pain and hurt of past mistakes. She made plenty of them, but so did Kyle and her parents. Kyle knows the moment he touches Ronnie that he still loves her. He won’t repeat the past and let her leave him a second time.

It takes a tragedy and a secret to reunite them, but their passion returns in a rush along with regret and guilt. To have love, they’ll have to overcome their issues—before her mother’s sin takes Ronnie away, once and for all.

~Excerpt~

She raised her gaze to his. The bruises on her face twisted his gut, but her hazel eyes mesmerized him, exactly as they had a lifetime ago. His words got stuck in his throat. Finally, she shook her head, breaking the spell she’d cast over him. “Ten minutes in town and I run into you. Talk about luck.”

She folded her arms under her breasts and shifted her gaze to his chin. “Armed robbery.”

She lied. He could see it in her eyes. He stepped closer. “Don’t bother lying to me, Ronnie. I know you too well. What really happened?”

Her brows pinched. “I haven’t seen you in years, Kyle. You don’t know me anymore.”

He supposed she was right. He’d thought they’d spend their life together. She’d proved him wrong. Still, she drew him like no other woman ever had.

He brushed a finger over her bruised skin. “Come on, doll. Talk to me.”

She grinned. “I always loved that nickname, you know.”

He matched her smile, couldn’t help it. “And you’re changing the subject.”

“Armed robbery, like I said. I really don’t want to talk about it.” She snatched her purse from where it had fallen on the ground and pulled a hundred-dollar bill from her wallet. She held it out to him.

He glanced from it to her face. “If that’s for saving you, keep it. I don’t want your money. Never did.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please, Kyle. I didn’t come back to this shithole town to fight with you. I was wondering if you could go back into the bar and pay for my drink. I’d rather not go in there again.”

He worked his jaw and fought his irrational anger. It wasn’t her fault he’d reacted like a jerk, but he’d always hated the fact that she had more money. He took the cash and crumpled it in his hands. “Why did you?”

A true romantic at heart, Nancy Corrigan is convinced there’s a knight in shining armor for every woman (or man), but you won’t find damsels in distress in her stories. She adores pairing alpha heroes with woman strong enough to match them and bring them to their knees. She also enjoys flipping the traditional roles in romances because her motto is—love and people should never be forced to conform to anyone’s norm.

She holds a degree in chemistry and has worked in research but now focuses on ensuring quality. She considers it the perfect outlet for her as she’s the first to admit she has some OCD tendencies. It carries over into her writing life too. While engrossed in a novel, she has a habit of forgetting to eat and sleep. Fortunately, she’s married to her own knight in shining armor who understands her oddities and loves her anyway. They reside in Pennsylvania with their three children, dog, snake and guinea pigs. Her other interests include tattoos, animals, classic cars and all things spooky and sexy.